Tag Archives: chicken breast

Summertime is BBQ time for me – there’s nothing I enjoy more than grilling food over hot coals!! At the butcher’s shop I usually go to in Saint-Chinian, Boucherie Peyras, I saw some beautiful rump steak. I thought it would be perfect for a meal with friends, and even more tasty if cooked on the BBQ. Right now, the garden is yielding a great many tomatoes, courgettes and aubergines, so they were all added to my basket of ingredients, and also some freshly dug potatoes. Along with the steak, I also got some chicken breasts for one of my invitees.

Here are all my ingredients ready to go on the grill! I seasoned the steak and chicken breasts with my uncle’s secret spice mixture. It’s a blend of various herbs and spices, such as caraway, curry, paprika, powdered garlic, oregano, and more, all mixed up with salt.

The BBQ I use is the type which has a domed cover on it – you’ve probably heard of the German-sounding US brand which seems to have cornered the BBQ market? 🙂 I find it really easy to use and it works very well for me. Here it is, all set up and ready to light:

The chimney is a great tool to get the coals heated up without much effort. Once it was filled with coal (I used charcoal briquettes), I lit a firelighter, which was put on the lower rack, and placed the chimney over it.

About 20 – 30 minutes later the coals were glowing nicely, and were ready to be turned out onto the grill.

Once the coals had been distributed and the top grill was in place, I put on the potatoes, since they take the longest.

After about 15 minutes I started the other vegetables. First were the courgettes, which had been tossed with olive oil and seasoning.

Next came the aubergine slices, which had been lightly brushed with olive oil on both sides.

While all this cooking was going on, I was enjoying an aperitif with my friends. Once we had finished our drinks and nibbles, we moved on to our starter of ice-cold gazpacho, made with tomatoes from the garden, and some cucumbers from the market.

With the vegetables cooked, it was time to put the meat on the grill!

There was the most wonderful smell coming from the grill as the steak was cooking! I waited with the chicken until the steak was done on one side.

The potatoes turned out perfectly, and the flavour was great!

Here’s what the finished steak looked like – it had had a busy day, so it was resting! 🙂

The chicken strips were perfectly tender!

And the courgettes and aubergines were delicious too!

Here’s a picture of a heaped plate – I hope you’re not feeling too hungry!!

No French meal would be complete without cheese and dessert – we had a selection of local cheeses, bought at the market. For our dessert I had prepared a flan, or creme caramel, as it’s called in France.

All very yummy and perfect for a summer’s evening! Do you have any favourite BBQ recipes?